Filed under: News, Politics, President Obama, Race and Civil Rights
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A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge who made an "offensive and inappropriate" reference to the Ku Klux Klan while presiding over a robbery trial involving two African American defendants was publicly admonished Wednesday by a state agency overseeing judges' discipline.
Judge Harvey Giss of the San Fernando Courthouse made the comments in July during an off-the-record discussion with attorneys about a possible plea agreement in the case, according to the state Commission on Judicial Performance.
Neither of the defendants was present, but a family member was in the courtroom, according to the commission. Giss told the commission he remarked that the only thing that would make the defendants agree to a plea was for the judge to "come out in a white sheet and a pointy white hat," according to the panel's statement of facts.
Two days later, when the defense asked the judge to recuse himself because of the remark, Giss conceded that he had made a "bad statement" but added, "People don't have a sense of humor anymore," according to the statement of facts.
Giss, a former deputy district attorney who has been on the Superior Court bench since April 2001, eventually withdrew from the case.
Source: LA Times
Kevin Eason is a freelance editorial cartoonist and Illustrator from New Jersey. His brand of satire covers news events in politics, entertainment, sports and much more. Follow him on Facebook.